KUALA LUMPUR: The establishment of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is expected to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on May 3, the Dewan Negara was told on Wednesday (April 3).

Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said the government had allocated RM20mil for the establishment of the faculty in line with the developments of technology including AI.

"Currently, the Finance Ministry has given preliminary allocations and the faculty is being refurbished... related equipment is also being set up in this faculty," he said during a question-and-answer session at Dewan Negara Wednesday.

He was replying to a question by Senator Datuk Seri Prof Dr Awang Sariyan who wanted to know the latest developments on the establishment of the Faculty of AI.

In the meantime, Mustapha said the decision to close or modify the faculty according to current developments is based on the marketability of graduates.

"The ministry will evaluate the faculty according to indicators related to the marketability of graduates, if the marketability of graduates is below 30%, the faculty will have to be closed or modified to meet the needs of the industry.

"We will ensure that students in all faculties can undergo courses that are exposed to new technology, especially AI," he said.

He said this in response to a supplementary question from Senator Hussin Ismail who wanted to know if there was an impact on existing courses at higher education institutions due to the development of AI and measures taken by the ministry. - Bernama